Application display method and terminal

ABSTRACT

Embodiments of the present invention provide an application display method and a terminal, where the method includes: acquiring a first sliding gesture, where a start position of the first sliding gesture is located in a first preset operating area; and when the terminal detects that the first sliding gesture is a first preset sliding gesture, displaying an application that is in a first state, where the first state includes at least one of the following states: a state of running in the foreground, a state of running in the background, and a state of being buffered in the background. Therefore, a recently used application can be displayed to a user according to a gesture of the user, without a need to dispose a dedicated button, thereby improving operation and control efficiency.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION

This application is a National Stage of International Patent ApplicationNo. PCT/CN2014/070162, filed on Jan. 6, 2014, which is herebyincorporated by reference in its entirety.

TECHNICAL FIELD

Embodiments of the present invention relate to the field ofcommunications technologies, and in particular, to an applicationdisplay method and a terminal.

BACKGROUND

With the development of science and technology and rapid popularizationof mobile terminals, applications developed for mobile terminals areincreasing. A user can download and install various applications in amobile phone as required, and can run multiple applications at the sametime. Therefore, frequency of switching between multiple applications bythe user also increases. In the prior art, a list of applications thatare recently used by the user is displayed on a full-screen interfacemainly by a short press on a dedicated physical button or by tapping avirtual key on a current display interface performed by the user. Asshown in FIG. 1, the recently used applications include: an applicationrunning in the foreground, an application running in the background, andan application buffered in the background.

However, in the prior art, a dedicated button needs to be disposed fortriggering display of applications that are recently used by a user.

SUMMARY

Embodiments of the present invention provide an application displaymethod and a terminal, so as to display a recently used application to auser according to a gesture of the user, without a need to dispose adedicated button, thereby improving operation and control efficiency.

According to a first aspect, an embodiment of the present inventionprovides an application display method, including:

acquiring a first sliding gesture, where a start position of the firstsliding gesture is located in a first preset operating area; and

when a terminal detects that the first sliding gesture is a first presetsliding gesture, displaying an application that is in a first state,where the first state includes at least one of the following states: astate of running in the foreground, a state of running in thebackground, and a state of being buffered in the background.

In a first possible implementation manner of the first aspect, thedisplaying an application that is in a first state includes:

displaying, in a preset area, a identifier of the application that is inthe first state.

With reference to the first aspect or the first possible implementationmanner of the first aspect, in a second possible implementation mannerof the first aspect, after the displaying an application that is in afirst state, the method further includes:

acquiring an instruction entered by a user; and

displaying, on a current interface according to the instruction, anapplication interface of an application that is triggered by theinstruction, where the application is any application of the applicationthat is in the first state.

With reference to the first aspect or the first possible implementationmanner of the first aspect, in a third possible implementation manner ofthe first aspect, after the displaying an application that is in a firststate, the method further includes:

acquiring a second sliding gesture, where a start position of the secondsliding gesture is located in the first preset operating area; and

when the terminal detects that the second sliding gesture is a secondpreset sliding gesture, hiding the identifier of the application that isin the first state.

According to a second aspect, an embodiment of the present inventionprovides a terminal, including:

an acquiring unit, configured to acquire a first sliding gesture, wherea start position of the first sliding gesture is located in a firstpreset operating area;

a processing unit, configured to detect whether the first slidinggesture acquired by the acquiring unit is a first preset slidinggesture; and

a display unit, configured to: when the processing unit detects that thefirst sliding gesture acquired by the acquiring unit is the first presetsliding gesture, display an application that is in a first state, wherethe first state includes at least one of the following states: a stateof running in the foreground, a state of running in the background, anda state of being buffered in the background.

In a first possible implementation manner of the second aspect, that thedisplay unit displays an application that is in a first state isspecifically:

the display unit displays, in a preset area, a identifier of theapplication that is in the first state.

With reference to the second aspect or the first possible implementationmanner of the second aspect, in a second possible implementation mannerof the second aspect, the acquiring unit is further configured to: afterthe display unit displays the application that is in the first state,acquire an instruction entered by a user; and

the display unit is further configured to display, on a currentinterface according to the instruction acquired by the acquiring unit,an application interface of an application that is triggered by theinstruction, where the application is any application of the applicationthat is in the first state.

With reference to the second aspect or the first possible implementationmanner of the second aspect, in a third possible implementation mannerof the second aspect, the acquiring unit is further configured toacquire a second sliding gesture after the display unit displays theapplication that is in the first state, where a start position of thesecond sliding gesture is located in the first preset operating area;

the processing unit is further configured to detect whether the secondsliding gesture acquired by the acquiring unit is a second presetsliding gesture; and

the display unit is further configured to: when the processing unitdetects that the second sliding gesture acquired by the acquiring unitis the second preset sliding gesture, hide the identifier of theapplication that is in the first state.

According to a third aspect, an embodiment of the present inventionprovides a terminal, where the terminal includes:

the input device, configured to acquire a first sliding gesture, where astart position of the first sliding gesture is located in a first presetoperating area;

the processor, configured to detect whether the first sliding gestureacquired by the input device is a first preset sliding gesture; and

the output device, configured to: when the processor detects that thefirst sliding gesture acquired by the input device is the first presetsliding gesture, display an application that is in a first state, wherethe first state includes at least one of the following states: a stateof running in the foreground, a state of running in the background, anda state of being buffered in the background.

In a first possible implementation manner of the third aspect, that theoutput device displays an application that is in a first state isspecifically:

the output device displays, in a preset area, a identifier of theapplication that is in the first state.

With reference to the third aspect or the first possible implementationmanner of the third aspect, in a second possible implementation mannerof the third aspect, the input device is further configured to: afterthe output device displays the application that is in the first state,acquire an instruction entered by a user; and

the output device is further configured to display, on a currentinterface according to the instruction acquired by the input device, anapplication interface of an application that is triggered by theinstruction, where the application is any application of the applicationthat is in the first state.

With reference to the third aspect or the first possible implementationmanner of the third aspect, in a third possible implementation manner ofthe third aspect, the input device is further configured to acquire asecond sliding gesture after the output device displays the applicationthat is in the first state, where a start position of the second slidinggesture is located in the first preset operating area;

the processor is further configured to detect whether the second slidinggesture acquired by the input device is a second preset sliding gesture;and

the output device is further configured to: when the processor detectsthat the second sliding gesture acquired by the input device is thesecond preset sliding gesture, hide the identifier of the applicationthat is in the first state.

In the application display method and the terminal provided in theembodiments of the present invention, a first sliding gesture isacquired, where a start position of the first sliding gesture is locatedin a first preset operating area, and when the terminal detects that thefirst sliding gesture is a first preset sliding gesture, an applicationthat is in a first state is displayed. Therefore, a recently usedapplication can be displayed to a user according to a gesture of theuser, without a need to dispose a dedicated button, thereby improvingoperation and control efficiency.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

To describe the technical solutions in the embodiments of the presentinvention or in the prior art more clearly, the following brieflyintroduces the accompanying drawings required for describing theembodiments or the prior art. Apparently, the accompanying drawings inthe following description show some embodiments of the presentinvention, and persons of ordinary skill in the art may still deriveother drawings from these accompanying drawings without creativeefforts.

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of a list of applications that arerecently used by a user in the prior art;

FIG. 2 is a flowchart of an application display method according to anembodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram of a virtual navigation bar area and afirst sliding gesture according to an embodiment of the presentinvention;

FIG. 4 is a schematic diagram of a virtual navigation bar area and anapplication that is in a first state according to an embodiment of thepresent invention;

FIG. 5 is a schematic diagram of a bottom display area and a firstsliding gesture according to an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 6 is a schematic diagram of a bottom display area and anapplication that is in a first state according to an embodiment of thepresent invention;

FIG. 7 is a flowchart of an application display method according to anembodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 8 is a flowchart of an application display method according to anembodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 9 is a schematic structural diagram of a terminal according to anembodiment of the present invention; and

FIG. 10 is a schematic structural diagram of a terminal according to anembodiment of the present invention.

DESCRIPTION OF EMBODIMENTS

To make the objectives, technical solutions, and advantages of theembodiments of the present invention clearer, the following clearly andcompletely describes the technical solutions in the embodiments of thepresent invention with reference to the accompanying drawings in theembodiments of the present invention. Apparently, the describedembodiments are some but not all of the embodiments of the presentinvention. All other embodiments obtained by persons of ordinary skillin the art based on the embodiments of the present invention withoutcreative efforts shall fall within the protection scope of the presentinvention.

It should be noted that a terminal involved in the embodiments of thepresent invention may be a touchscreen terminal, which includes but isnot limited to a mobile phone, a tablet personal computer (PAD), apersonal digital assistant (Personal Digital Assistant, PDA for short),a wireless handheld device, a wireless netbook, a portable computer, anMP3 player, an MP4 player, and the like.

FIG. 2 is a flowchart of an application display method according to anembodiment of the present invention. As shown in FIG. 2, the method inthis embodiment may include the following steps:

S101. Acquire a first sliding gesture, where a start position of thefirst sliding gesture is located in a first preset operating area.

In this embodiment, a user of a terminal may start the first slidinggesture from a first preset operating area on a touchscreen, where thetouchscreen is a touchscreen of the terminal and the terminal mayacquire the first sliding gesture of the user. Specifically, the usermay start an operation of a first gesture from the first presetoperating area on the touchscreen. When determining that the firstgesture performed by the user on the touchscreen is a sliding gesture,the terminal may acquire coordinates of a start position of the slidinggesture. When determining that the coordinates of the start position arelocated in the first preset operating area of the touchscreen, theterminal may use the sliding gesture as the first sliding gesture andperform S102.

Optionally, the first preset operating area may be a bottom display areaon the touchscreen of the terminal, a top area on the touchscreen of theterminal, a left-side area on the touchscreen of the terminal, aright-side area on the touchscreen of the terminal, or a virtualnavigation bar area on the touchscreen of the terminal.

Optionally, the first preset operating area may be rectangular, or thefirst preset operating area may be circular.

S102. When a terminal detects that the first sliding gesture is a firstpreset sliding gesture, display an application that is in a first state,where the first state includes at least one of the following states: astate of running in the foreground, a state of running in thebackground, and a state of being buffered in the background.

Specifically, after acquiring the first sliding gesture, the terminaldetermines an operation track corresponding to the first slidinggesture, where the operation track is a track formed by acting points ofan operation, corresponding to information about the first slidinggesture, on the output device. A start position of the operation trackis located in the first preset operating area of the terminal.Optionally, that a terminal detects that the first sliding gesture is afirst preset sliding gesture is specifically as follows: When a distanceof the operation track, corresponding to the first sliding gesture, inthe first preset operating area is greater than or equal to a presetthreshold, the terminal determines that the first sliding gesture is thefirst preset sliding gesture. Optionally, that a terminal detects thatthe first sliding gesture is a first preset sliding gesture isspecifically as follows: The terminal determines that the first slidinggesture is the first preset sliding gesture when an angle between alandscape orientation of the output device of the terminal and a lineformed by a start point of an operation track and an end point of theoperation track is less than or equal to a first threshold, where theoperation track is formed in the first preset operating area by thefirst preset sliding gesture; or when an angle between a portraitorientation of the output device of the terminal and a line formed by astart point of an operation track and an end point of the operationtrack is less than or equal to a first threshold, where the operationtrack is formed in the first preset operating area by the first presetsliding gesture. The distance threshold and the angle threshold may bespecific values, or may be value ranges. The terminal may alsodetermine, according to the distance and the angle of the operationtrack, that the first sliding gesture is the first preset slidinggesture.

In this embodiment, when determining that a first sliding gesture is afirst preset sliding gesture, a terminal may learn that a user of theterminal requests to acquire an application that is in a first state,where the first state includes at least one of the following states: astate of running in the foreground, a state of running in thebackground, and a state of being buffered in the background. Then, theapplication that is in the first state may include at least one of thefollowing applications: an application running in the foreground, anapplication running in the background, and an application buffered inthe background. The application that is in the state of running in theforeground is an application that is running on a current interface. Theapplication that is in the state of running in the background is anapplication that is not running on the current interface but is notclosed. The application that is in the state of being buffered in thebackground is an application that is not running on the currentinterface and is closed, but data required for running the applicationis still buffered in a memory of a terminal device. The application thatis in the first state is an application that is recently used by theuser of the terminal. Then, the terminal may acquire the applicationthat is in the first state (including a identifier of the application)and display, on the touchscreen, the application that is in the firststate. For example, the terminal may display, on the entire touchscreen,the application that is in the first state, or display, in a preset areaof the touchscreen, the application that is in the first state. Afeasible implementation manner of displaying the application that is inthe first state may be generating a list for the terminal, where thelist includes the application that is in the first state (for example,the identifier of the application), which is not limited in thisembodiment of the present invention. In this case, the user may performapplication switching according to the application that is in the firststate. In this embodiment of the present invention, the recently usedapplication is displayed to the user according to the sliding gesture ofthe user, without a need to dispose a dedicated button.

Optionally, that the terminal displays an application that is in a firststate may include: The terminal displays, according to preset order, theapplication that is in the first state, where the preset order may be adescending order of frequency of using an application by the user withina preset time, an ascending order of a difference between a time atwhich the user uses an application and a current time, or the like.

In this embodiment, a terminal acquires a first sliding gesture, where astart position of the first sliding gesture is located in a first presetoperating area of the terminal, and when it is detected that the firstsliding gesture is a first preset sliding gesture, the terminal displaysan application that is in a first state. Therefore, a recently usedapplication can be displayed to a user according to a gesture of theuser, without a need to dispose a dedicated button, thereby improvingoperation and control efficiency.

Further, that the terminal displays an application that is in a firststate includes: The terminal displays, in the preset area, theidentifier of the application that is in the first state, where thepreset area may be an area that is the same as the first presetoperating area. In this embodiment, the terminal may add a window in thepreset area so as to display the identifier of the application that isin the first state. For example, a list is generated in the preset area,where the list includes an icon or a name of the application that is inthe first state. In this embodiment, the terminal may display, in thepreset area in the current application interface of the touchscreen, theapplication that is in the first state, and it is not required to switchan interface when displaying the application that is in the first state.Therefore, the user may switch an application quickly and intuitively ina case in which no area of an application interface is blocked, therebyenhancing user experience.

Optionally, the preset area may be: a bottom display area on thetouchscreen of the terminal, a top display area on the touchscreen ofthe terminal, a left-side display area on the touchscreen of theterminal, a right-side display area on the touchscreen of the terminal,or a virtual navigation bar area on the touchscreen of the terminal.

Optionally, the first preset sliding gesture is a leftward slidinggesture, a rightward sliding gesture, an upward sliding gesture, or adownward sliding gesture.

In a feasible implementation manner, for a terminal having a virtualnavigation bar, the user may perform a leftward sliding gesture on thevirtual navigation bar on the touchscreen of the terminal, as shown inFIG. 3. The virtual navigation bar shown in FIG. 3 is located in thebottom display area of the touchscreen. When the terminal detects thatthe user performs a leftward sliding gesture on the virtual navigationbar, the terminal may display, in the virtual navigation bar by adding awindow, the identifier of the application that is in the first state, asshown in FIG. 4.

In a second feasible implementation manner, for a terminal having aphysical button, the user may perform an upward sliding gesture in thebottom display area on the touchscreen of the terminal, as shown in FIG.5. The first preset operating area shown in FIG. 3 is located in thebottom display area of the touchscreen. When the terminal detects thatthe user performs an upward sliding gesture on the bottom display area,the terminal may display, in the bottom display area by adding a window,the identifier of the application that is in the first state, as shownin FIG. 6. In this implementation manner, the terminal displays, only inthe bottom display area, the application recently used by the user, soas to switch an application quickly in a case in which no area of a userapplication interface is blocked. It should be noted that, thisembodiment of the present invention is not limited to the foregoing twofeasible implementation manners.

In the application display method provided in this embodiment of thepresent invention, after the application that is in the first state isdisplayed, further, based on the method embodiment shown in FIG. 1, themethod in this embodiment further includes: acquiring an instructionentered by a user; and displaying, on a current interface according tothe instruction, an application interface of an application that istriggered by the instruction, where the application is any applicationof the application that is in the first state. Specifically, the usermay enter the instruction. For example, the user may tap any application(for example, a identifier of the application) of the application thatis in the first state and displayed on the touchscreen of the terminal,that is, the user enters a user instruction, where the instruction isused to trigger the application tapped by the user. Therefore, theterminal may acquire the instruction entered by the user and learn thatthe user requires the terminal to display the application triggered bythe instruction; for example, the user needs to switch to theapplication triggered by the instruction. Further, the terminal maydisplay, on the current interface, the application triggered by theinstruction, thereby implementing quick switching between applications.

FIG. 7 is a flowchart of an application display method according to anembodiment of the present invention. As shown in FIG. 7, based on themethod embodiment shown in FIG. 1, further, the method in thisembodiment may further include the following steps:

S201. Acquire a second sliding gesture, where a start position of thesecond sliding gesture is located in the first preset operating area.

In this embodiment, after the terminal displays the application that isin the first state, the user of the terminal may start the secondsliding gesture from the first preset operating area on the touchscreen.Then, the terminal may acquire the second sliding gesture of the user.Specifically, when determining that a gesture performed by the user onthe touchscreen is a sliding gesture, an endpoint terminal may acquirecoordinates of a start position of the sliding gesture. When determiningthat the coordinates of the start position are located in the firstpreset operating area of the touchscreen, the terminal may use thesliding gesture as the second sliding gesture and perform S202.

S202. When the terminal detects that the second sliding gesture is asecond preset sliding gesture, hide the identifier of the applicationthat is in the first state.

Optionally, the second preset sliding gesture may be a sliding gesturethat is the same as the foregoing first preset sliding gesture. When theterminal detects that the second sliding gesture is the second presetsliding gesture, if the terminal displays only a part of applicationsthat are in the first state but does not display another part ofapplications, the terminal continues to display the another part ofapplications that are in the first state; if the terminal alreadydisplays all applications that are in the first state to the user, theterminal may hide displayed identifiers of the applications that are inthe first state. For example, a window for displaying an applicationthat is in a first state may be closed. If the current interface is anapplication interface of a running application, the identifier that ispreviously displayed and is of the application that is in the firststate may be hidden, but the application interface of the runningapplication displayed on the current interface may still be retained.

Optionally, the second preset sliding gesture may be a sliding gestureinverse to the foregoing first preset sliding gesture. For example, ifthe first preset sliding gesture is a leftward sliding gesture, thesecond preset sliding gesture is a rightward sliding gesture; if thefirst preset sliding gesture is a rightward sliding gesture, the secondpreset sliding gesture is a leftward sliding gesture; if the firstpreset sliding gesture is an upward sliding gesture, the second presetsliding gesture is a downward sliding gesture; if the first presetsliding gesture is a downward sliding gesture, the second preset slidinggesture is an upward sliding gesture. When the terminal detects that thesecond sliding gesture is the second preset sliding gesture, itindicates that the user no longer requests to acquire the applicationthat is in the first state. Then, the terminal may hide the displayedidentifier of the application that is in the first state. For example, awindow for displaying the application that is in the first state may beclosed.

In this embodiment, further, a terminal acquires a second slidinggesture, where a start position of the second sliding gesture is locatedin a first preset operating area of the terminal, and when it isdetected that the second sliding gesture is a second preset slidinggesture, hides a identifier of an application that is in a first state.Therefore, the identifier that is displayed on the terminal and is ofthe application that is in the first state may be hidden according to agesture of a user.

FIG. 8 is a flowchart of an application display method according to anembodiment of the present invention. As shown in FIG. 8, further, themethod in this embodiment may include the following steps:

S301. A terminal acquires a first sliding gesture, where a startposition of the first sliding gesture is located in a first presetoperating area of the terminal.

A specific implementation process of S301 in this embodiment is similarto the specific implementation process of S101 in method embodiment 1 ofthe present invention. For details, refer to related description of theforegoing method embodiment of the present invention, and details arenot described herein again.

S302. When the terminal detects that the first sliding gesture is afirst preset sliding gesture, the terminal displays identifiers of afirst part of applications that are in a first state.

In this embodiment, if there are a relatively large quantity ofapplications that are in the first state, when a display area of atouchscreen of the terminal cannot display, in a display interface, allapplications that are in the first state, a part of applications thatare in the first state may be displayed. For example, a first part ofapplications that are in the first state may be displayed. The remainingapplications that are in the first state may be displayed when a userperforms a next first preset sliding gesture. In this embodiment, afterS302 is performed, S303 may further be performed.

Optionally, the terminal displays, in a preset area of the touchscreen,the identifiers of the first part of applications that are in the firststate.

S303. The terminal acquires a second sliding gesture, where a startposition of the second sliding gesture is located in the first presetoperating area.

A specific implementation process of S303 in this embodiment is similarto the specific implementation process of S201 in method embodiment 2 ofthe present invention. For details, refer to related description of theforegoing method embodiment of the present invention, and details arenot described herein again.

S304. The terminal detects whether the second sliding gesture is thefirst preset sliding gesture. If yes, perform the step S305; if not,perform the step S306.

In this embodiment, the terminal detects whether the second slidinggesture is the first preset sliding gesture; if it is detected that thesecond sliding gesture is the first preset sliding gesture, performsS305, or if it is detected that the second sliding gesture is not thefirst preset sliding gesture, performs S306.

S305. The terminal displays, on a touchscreen, identifiers of a secondpart of applications that are in the first state.

In this embodiment, when it is detected that the second sliding gestureis the first preset sliding gesture, the terminal may learn that theuser of the terminal still requests to acquire the application that isin the first state. Because the identifiers of the first part ofapplications that are in the first state are already displayedpreviously, identifiers of the remaining applications that are in thefirst state may be displayed on the touchscreen at this time. Forexample, identifiers of a second part of applications that are in thefirst state may be displayed on the touchscreen.

Optionally, the terminal displays, in the preset area of thetouchscreen, the identifiers of the second part of applications that arein the first state.

S306. When the terminal detects that the second sliding gesture is asecond preset sliding gesture, the terminal hides the identifiers of thefirst part of applications that are in the first state.

In this embodiment, after the terminal detects that the second slidinggesture is not the first preset sliding gesture, when the terminaldetects that the second sliding gesture is the second preset slidinggesture, it indicates that the user no longer requests to acquire theapplication that is in the first state. Then, the identifiers that aredisplayed on the touchscreen and are of the first part of applicationsthat are in the first state may be hidden. For example, a window fordisplaying the application that is in the first state may be closed.

In this embodiment, a recently used application can be displayed to auser according to a gesture of the user, without a need to dispose adedicated button. Further, the application that is recently used by theuser may further be displayed in a preset area (for example, a bottomarea) of a touchscreen, so as to switch an application quickly in a casein which no area of a user application interface is blocked, therebyenhancing user experience.

Optionally, in the foregoing embodiments of the present invention, anentire operation track of the first preset sliding gesture is located inthe first preset operating area. Optionally, an entire operation trackof the second preset sliding gesture is located in the first presetoperating area.

FIG. 9 is a schematic structural diagram of a terminal according to anembodiment of the present invention. As shown in FIG. 9, the terminal inthis embodiment may include: an acquiring unit 11, a processing unit 12,and a display unit 13. The acquiring unit 11 is configured to acquire afirst sliding gesture, where a start position of the first slidinggesture is located in a first preset operating area. The processing unit12 is configured to detect whether the first sliding gesture acquired bythe acquiring unit 11 is a first preset sliding gesture. The displayunit 13 is configured to: when the processing unit 12 detects that thefirst sliding gesture acquired by the acquiring unit 11 is the firstpreset sliding gesture, display an application that is in a first state,where the first state includes at least one of the following states: astate of running in the foreground, a state of running in thebackground, and a state of being buffered in the background.

Optionally, the first preset operating area is a bottom display area ona touchscreen of the terminal, a top display area on a touchscreen ofthe terminal, a left-side display area on a touchscreen of the terminal,a right-side display area on a touchscreen of the terminal, or a virtualnavigation bar area on a touchscreen of the terminal.

Optionally, that the display unit 13 displays an application that is ina first state is specifically: the display unit 13 displays, in a presetarea, a identifier of the application that is in the first state.

Optionally, the preset area is the bottom display area on thetouchscreen of the terminal, the top display area on the touchscreen ofthe terminal, the left-side display area on the touchscreen of theterminal, the right-side display area on the touchscreen of theterminal, or the virtual navigation bar area on the touchscreen of theterminal.

Optionally, the first preset sliding gesture is a leftward slidinggesture, a rightward sliding gesture, an upward sliding gesture, or adownward sliding gesture.

Optionally, the acquiring unit 11 is further configured to: after thedisplay unit 13 displays the application that is in the first state,acquire an instruction entered by a user. The display unit 13 is furtherconfigured to display, on a current interface according to theinstruction acquired by the acquiring unit 11, an application interfaceof an application that is triggered by the instruction, where theapplication is any application of the application that is in the firststate.

Optionally, the acquiring unit 11 is further configured to acquire asecond sliding gesture after the display unit 13 displays theapplication that is in the first state, where a start position of thesecond sliding gesture is located in the first preset operating area.The processing unit 12 is further configured to detect whether thesecond sliding gesture acquired by the acquiring unit 11 is a secondpreset sliding gesture. The display unit 13 is further configured to:when the processing unit 12 detects that the second sliding gestureacquired by the acquiring unit 11 is the second preset sliding gesture,hide the identifier of the application that is in the first state.

The terminal in this embodiment may be configured to execute thetechnical solutions of the application display method provided in theforegoing embodiments of the present invention, and an implementationprinciple and a technical effect thereof are similar. For details, referto related description of the foregoing method embodiments of thepresent invention, and details are not described herein again.

FIG. 10 is a schematic structural diagram of a terminal according to anembodiment of the present invention. In this embodiment of the presentinvention, the terminal may be a computer system in a handheld form,such as a smartphone, a tablet personal computer (Tablet PersonalComputer), a personal digital assistant (personal digital assistant, PDAfor short), a mobile Internet device (Mobile Internet Device, MID forshort), a wearable device (Wearable Device), or the like. Persons killedin the art may understand that the structure of the terminal deviceshown in FIG. 10 does not constitute a limitation on the terminaldevice, where the terminal device may include parts more or less thanthose shown in the figure, or a combination of some parts, or differentpart arrangements. The following describes integral parts of theterminal device in detail with reference to FIG. 10.

An input device 22 is configured to implement interaction between a userand an electronic device and/or input of information into the electronicdevice. For example, the input device 22 may receive digit or characterinformation that is entered by the user, so as to generate a signalinput related to user settings or function control. In a specificimplementation manner of the present invention, the input device 22 maybe a touch panel, or may be another human-machine interaction interface,such as a physical input button or a microphone; or may be anotherapparatus for acquiring external information, such as a camera. Thetouch panel, also referred to as a touchscreen or a touchscreen, maycollect an operation action of touching the touch panel or approachingthe touch panel, for example, an operation action performed by the useron the touch panel or at a position close to the touch panel by usingany proper object or accessory such as a finger or a stylus, and acorresponding connecting apparatus is driven according to a presetprogram. Optionally, the touch panel may include two parts: a touchdetection apparatus and a touch controller. The touch detectionapparatus detects a touch operation of the user, converts the detectedtouch operation into an electrical signal, and transmits the electricalsignal to the touch controller; the touch controller receives theelectrical signal from the touch detection apparatus, converts theelectrical signal into touch point coordinates, and then transmits thetouch point coordinates to a processor 23. The touch controller mayfurther receive and execute a command sent from the processor 23. Inaddition, the touch panel may be implemented by using multiple types,such as a resistive type, a capacitive type, an infrared (Infrared) ray,and a surface acoustic wave. In another implementation manner of thepresent invention, the physical input button used by the input device 24may include but is not limited to one or more of a physical keyboard, afunctional button (such as a volume control button or a power button), atrackball, a mouse, an operating lever, or the like. An input device ina form of a microphone may collect voice that is input by the user or anenvironment, and convert the voice into a command that is in a form ofan electric signal and can be executed by the processor 23. In someimplementation manners of the present invention, the input device 22 mayalso be various sensing components, for example, a Hall component,configured to detect a physical quantity of the electronic device, forexample, force, torque, pressure, stress, a position, a displacement, aspeed, acceleration, an angle, an angular velocity, a number ofrevolutions, a rotational speed, and a time at which a working statechanges, which are converted into electricity for detection and control.Other sensing components may further include a gravity sensor, atri-axis accelerometer, a gyroscope, and the like.

An output device 24 includes but is not limited to an image outputdevice and a sound output device. The image output device is configuredto output a character, a picture, and/or a video. The image outputdevice may include a display panel, for example, a display panelconfigured in a form of a liquid crystal display (Liquid CrystalDisplay, LCD for short), an organic light-emitting diode (OrganicLight-Emitting Diode, OLED for short), a field emission display (fieldemission display, FED for short), and the like; or the image outputdevice may include a reflective display, for example, an electrophoretic(electrophoretic) display or a display using an interferometricmodulation of light (Interferometric Modulation of Light) technology.The image output device may include a single display or multipledisplays in different sizes. In a specific implementation manner of thepresent invention, the touch panel used by the input device 22 may alsobe used as a display panel of the output device. For example, afterdetecting a gesture of touching the touch panel or approaching the touchpanel, the touch panel transmits the gesture to the processor 23 todetermine a type of a touch event, and then the processor 23 provides acorresponding visual output on the display panel according to the typeof the touch event. The input device 22 and the output device 24 areused as two independent parts to implement input and output functions ofthe electronic device, but the touch panel and the display panel may beintegrated to implement the input and output functions of the electronicdevice. For example, the image output device may display variousgraphical user interfaces (Graphical User Interface, GUI for short), soas to use the graphical user interfaces as virtual control components,and the graphical user interfaces include but are not limited to awindow, a scrollbar, an icon, and a scrapbook, so that the user operatesin a touch manner.

The processor 23 is a control center of the terminal device. Variousinterfaces and lines are used to connect to various parts of the entirecomputer. The processor 23 executes various functions of a station andprocesses data by running or executing a software program and/or anapplication unit stored in a memory and invoking data stored in thememory 21, so as to perform overall monitoring on the station.

As shown in FIG. 10, the terminal may include: the memory 21, the inputdevice 22, the processor 23, and the output device 24, where the memory21 is configured to store program code for executing an applicationdisplay method and the memory 21 may include a non-volatile memory(Non-volatile Memory).

The input device 22 may be a touchscreen and the output device 24 mayalso be a touchscreen. The processor 23 may be a central processing unit(Central Processing Unit, CPU for short), or an application specificintegrated circuit (Application Specific Integrated Circuit, ASIC forshort), or be configured as one or more integrated circuits forimplementing this embodiment of the present invention. The input device22, the processor 23, and the output device 24 are configured to invokethe program code stored in the memory 21, so as to execute the followingoperations.

The input device 22 is configured to acquire a first sliding gesture,where a start position of the first sliding gesture is located in afirst preset operating area.

The processor 23 is configured to detect whether the first slidinggesture acquired by the input device 22 is a first preset slidinggesture.

The output device 24 is configured to: when the processor 23 detectsthat the first sliding gesture acquired by the input device 22 is thefirst preset sliding gesture, display an application that is in a firststate, where the first state includes at least one of the followingstates: a state of running in the foreground, a state of running in thebackground, and a state of being buffered in the background.

Optionally, the first preset operating area is a bottom display area ona touchscreen of the terminal, a top display area on a touchscreen ofthe terminal, a left-side display area on a touchscreen of the terminal,a right-side display area on a touchscreen of the terminal, or a virtualnavigation bar area on a touchscreen of the terminal.

Optionally, that the output device 24 displays an application that is ina first state is specifically: the output device 24 displays, in apreset area, a identifier of the application that is in the first state.

Optionally, the preset area is the bottom display area on thetouchscreen of the terminal, the top display area on the touchscreen ofthe terminal, the left-side display area on the touchscreen of theterminal, the right-side display area on the touchscreen of theterminal, or the virtual navigation bar area on the touchscreen of theterminal.

Optionally, the first preset sliding gesture is a leftward slidinggesture, a rightward sliding gesture, an upward sliding gesture, or adownward sliding gesture.

Optionally, the input device 22 is further configured to: after theoutput device 24 displays the application that is in the first state,acquire an instruction entered by a user. The output device 24 isfurther configured to display, on a current interface according to theinstruction acquired by the input device 22, an application interface ofan application that is triggered by the instruction, where theapplication is any application of the application that is in the firststate.

Optionally, the input device 22 is further configured to acquire asecond sliding gesture after the output device 24 displays theapplication that is in the first state, where a start position of thesecond sliding gesture is located in the first preset operating area.

The processor 23 is further configured to detect whether the secondsliding gesture acquired by the input device 22 is a second presetsliding gesture.

The output device 24 is further configured to: when the processor 23detects that the second sliding gesture acquired by the input device 22is the second preset sliding gesture, hide the identifier of theapplication that is in the first state.

It should be noted that, for the technical solutions specificallyimplemented by the input device 22, the processor 23, and the outputdevice 24 by invoking the program code stored in the memory 21, refer tothe foregoing application display method provided in the embodiments ofthe present invention, and an implementation principle and a technicaleffect thereof are similar. For details, refer to related description ofthe foregoing embodiments, and details are not described herein again.

Persons of ordinary skill in the art may understand that all or some ofthe steps of the method embodiments may be implemented by a programinstructing relevant hardware. The program may be stored in a computerreadable storage medium. When the program runs, the steps of the methodembodiments are performed. The foregoing storage medium includes: anymedium that can store program code, such as a ROM, a RAM, a magneticdisk, or an optical disc.

Finally, it should be noted that the foregoing embodiments are merelyintended for describing the technical solutions of the presentinvention, but not for limiting the present invention. Although thepresent invention is described in detail with reference to the foregoingembodiments, persons of ordinary skill in the art should understand thatthey may still make modifications to the technical solutions describedin the foregoing embodiments or make equivalent replacements to some orall technical features thereof, without departing from the scope of thetechnical solutions of the embodiments of the present invention.

What is claimed is:
 1. A mobile terminal, comprising: a touchscreen; oneor more processors; and memory, configured to store one or more programsand a first software application, wherein the one or more programs areconfigured to be executed by the one or more processors, and the one ormore programs comprise instructions for: displaying the first softwareapplication in full on the touchscreen; detecting a first slidinggesture; determining whether the first sliding gesture is a first presetsliding up gesture starting from a position in a preset operating areaof the touchscreen; when the first sliding gesture is the first presetsliding up gesture, in response to the first sliding gesture, displayinga list of one or more identifiers of software applications recentlyactive on the mobile terminal; when the list of the one or moreidentifiers is displayed on the touchscreen, in a case that a tapgesture is detected on an identifier of a second software application inthe list, in response to the tap gesture, displaying the second softwareapplication in full on the touchscreen; when the list of the one or moreidentifiers is displayed on the touchscreen, in a case that a secondsliding gesture is detected, determining whether the second slidinggesture is a second preset sliding gesture starting from a position inthe preset operating area of the touchscreen, wherein the second presetsliding gesture is different from the first preset sliding gesture; andwhen the second sliding gesture is the second preset sliding gesture, inresponse to the second sliding gesture, ceasing to display the list onthe touchscreen; wherein the preset operating area is a bottom area ofthe touchscreen.
 2. The mobile terminal according to claim 1, whereinthe one or more identifiers of software applications are displayed inthe list in an ascending order of a difference between a time at whichan application is active on the mobile terminal and a current time. 3.The mobile terminal according to claim 1, wherein the list of the one ormore identifiers are displayed in a pre-defined area of the touchscreen.4. The mobile terminal according to claim 1, wherein the one or moreprograms further comprise instructions for: when the list of one or moreidentifiers is displayed on the touchscreen, in a case that a gesture ofsliding left is detected, in response to the gesture of sliding left,displaying an identifier of a third software application (TSA) in thelist and ceasing to display an identifier of a fourth softwareapplication (FSA) which was previously displayed in the list.
 5. Themobile terminal according to claim 1, wherein the one or more programsfurther comprise instructions for: when the list of one or moreidentifiers is displayed on the touchscreen, in a case that a gesture ofsliding right is detected, in response to the gesture of sliding right,displaying an identifier of a fifth software application (FISA) in thelist and ceasing to display an identifier of a sixth softwareapplication (SSA) which was previously displayed in the list.
 6. Themobile terminal according to claim 1, wherein the one or moreidentifiers of software applications include one or more icons ofsoftware applications, and each icon is a same icon when each softwareapplication is represented as its corresponding icon on a home screen ofthe mobile terminal.
 7. The mobile terminal according to claim 4,wherein the TSA is displayed in a separate window with an icon of theTSA displayed in the separate window.
 8. The mobile terminal accordingto claim 5, wherein the FISA is displayed in a separate window with anicon of the FISA displayed in the separate window.
 9. The mobileterminal according to claim 1, wherein the one or more programs furthercomprise instructions for: when the list of software applications isdisplayed on the touchscreen, in a case that a gesture of closing asoftware application is detected, in response to the gesture of closingthe software application, ceasing to display a seventh softwareapplication (SESA) in the list of software applications.
 10. Anon-transitory computer-readable storage medium comprising instructionsthat, when executed by a mobile terminal, cause the mobile terminal tocarry out steps comprising: displaying a first software application infull on a touchscreen of the mobile terminal; detecting a first slidinggesture; determining whether the first sliding gesture is a first presetsliding up gesture starting from a position in a preset operating areaof the touchscreen; when the first sliding gesture is the first presetsliding up gesture, in response to the first sliding gesture, displayinga list of one or more identifiers of software applications recentlyactive on the mobile terminal; when the list of the one or moreidentifiers is displayed on the touchscreen, in a case that a tapgesture is detected on an identifier of a second software application inthe list, in response to the tap gesture, displaying the second softwareapplication in full on the touchscreen; when the list of the one or moreidentifiers is displayed on the touchscreen, in a case that a secondsliding gesture is detected, determining whether the second slidinggesture is a second preset sliding gesture starting from a position inthe preset operating area of the touchscreen, wherein the second presetsliding gesture is different from the first preset sliding gesture; andwhen the second sliding gesture is the second preset sliding gesture, inresponse to the second sliding gesture, ceasing to display the list onthe touchscreen; wherein the preset operating area is a bottom area ofthe touchscreen.
 11. The non-transitory computer-readable storage mediumaccording to claim 10, wherein the list of the one or more identifiersare displayed in a pre-defined area of the touchscreen.
 12. Thenon-transitory computer-readable storage medium according to claim 10,further comprising instructions that, when executed by the mobileterminal, cause the mobile terminal to carry out steps comprising: whenthe list of one or more identifiers is displayed on the touchscreen, ina case that a gesture of sliding left is detected, in response to thegesture of sliding left, displaying an identifier of a third softwareapplication (TSA) in the list and ceasing to display an identifier of afourth software application (FSA) that was previously displayed in thelist.
 13. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium accordingto claim 10, further comprising instructions that, when executed by themobile terminal, cause the mobile terminal to carry out the followingsteps comprising: when the list of one or more identifiers is displayedon the touchscreen, in a case that a gesture of sliding right isdetected, in response to the gesture of sliding right, displaying anidentifier of a fifth software application (FISA) in the list andceasing to display an identifier of a sixth software application (SSA)that was previously displayed in the list.
 14. The non-transitorycomputer-readable storage medium according to claim 10, wherein the oneor more identifiers of software applications include one or more iconsof software applications, and each icon is a same icon when eachsoftware application is represented as its corresponding icon on a homescreen of the mobile terminal.
 15. The non-transitory computer-readablestorage medium according to claim 12, wherein the TSA is displayed in aseparate window with an icon of the TSA displayed in the separatewindow.
 16. The non-transitory computer-readable storage mediumaccording to claim 13, wherein the FISA is displayed in a separatewindow with an icon of the FISA displayed in the separate window. 17.The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium according to claim10, further comprising instructions that, when executed by the mobileterminal, cause the mobile terminal to carry out steps comprising: whenthe list of software applications is displayed on the touchscreen, in acase that a gesture of closing a software application is detected, inresponse to the gesture of closing a software application, ceasing todisplay a seventh software application (SESA) in the list of softwareapplications.
 18. A method performed by a terminal, wherein the terminalcomprises a touchscreen, the method comprising: displaying a firstsoftware application in full on the touchscreen; detecting a firstsliding gesture; determining whether the first sliding gesture is afirst preset sliding up gesture starting from a position in a presetoperating area of the touchscreen; when the first sliding gesture is thefirst preset sliding up gesture, in response to the first slidinggesture, displaying a list of one or more identifiers of softwareapplications recently active on the terminal; when the list of the oneor more identifiers is displayed on the touchscreen, in a case that atap gesture is detected on an identifier of a second softwareapplication in the list, in response to the tap gesture, displaying thesecond software application in full on the touchscreen; when the list ofthe one or more identifiers is displayed on the touchscreen, in a casethat a second sliding gesture is detected, determining whether thesecond sliding gesture is a second preset sliding gesture starting fromthe preset operating area of the touchscreen, wherein the second presetsliding gesture is different from the first preset sliding gesture; andwhen the second sliding gesture is the second preset sliding gesture, inresponse to the second sliding gesture, ceasing to display the list onthe touchscreen; wherein the preset operating area is a bottom area ofthe touchscreen.
 19. The method according to claim 18, furthercomprising: when the list of one or more identifiers is displayed on thetouchscreen, in a case that a gesture of sliding left is detected, inresponse to the gesture of sliding left, displaying an identifier of athird software application in the list and ceasing to display anidentifier of a fourth software application that was previouslydisplayed in the list.
 20. The method according to claim 18, furthercomprising: when the list of one or more identifiers is displayed on thetouchscreen, in a case that a gesture of sliding right is detected, inresponse to the gesture of sliding right, displaying an identifier of afifth software application in the list and ceasing to display anidentifier of a seventh software application that was previouslydisplayed in the list.